The Morgan Hill Police Department partnered with the International Board of Credentialing and Continuing Education Standards to provide autism awareness training to their officers. IBCCES is a recognized organization focused on cognitive disorder training and certification for professionals around the globe.
Mesa Police Department recently became the first police department to earn the Certified Autism Center™ (CAC) designation. The designation, granted by the International Board of Credentialing and Continuing Education Standards (IBCCES), requires officers to complete training and commit to ongoing programs to better equip officers to better understand and communicate with autistic individuals or those with sensory sensitivities when encountering them in the community.
By Carol S. Weinman, Esq., C.A.S., International Speaker and Author
“My son really is a good boy. And, now, he thinks he’s bad.” These were the words of a mom who recently witnessed her adult son – with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) – in handcuffs. It got me thinking even more about the unspoken fallout of an ASD individual’s encounter with police. Boys with ASD experience “hits” to their self esteem at a very early age. They feel different, sometimes odd, and often ostracized and misunderstood. Highly vulnerable from a young age, they are more susceptible to the after effects of being arrested, handcuffed or fingerprinted. They transition to adulthood with a compromised sense of self-esteem and self-concept. The impact of being arrested and handcuffed cannot be minimized. It is traumatic for anyone at any age, but for an individual with ASD, it can be even more devastating.
